more than embarrass and delay the completion of the business for a few days; when he refused signing the constitution and was called upon for his reasons. These reasons were committed to writing by one of his colleagues[1] and likewise by the Secretary, as Mr. Gerry delivered them. These reasons were totally different from those which he has published, neither was a single objection which is contained in his letter to the legislature of Massachusetts ever offered by him in convention.[2]
Now Mr.Gerry, as this is generally known to be the state of facts, and as neither the reasons which you publish nor those retained on the Secretary’s files can be supposed to have the least affinity to truth, or to contain the real motives which induced you to withhold your name from the constitution, it appears to me that your plan was not judiciously contrived.
ⅭⅬⅧ. Luther Martin: Genuine Information.[3]
The Genuine Information, delivered to the Legislature of the State of Maryland, relative to the Proceedings of the General Convention, held at Philadelphia, in 1787, by LUTHER MARTIN, Esquire, Attorney-General of Maryland, and one of the Delegates in the said Convention.
Mr. Martin, when called upon, addressed the House nearly as follows:
- ↑ Probably refers to King, see Records of September 15.
- ↑ Somewhat too sweeping an assertion although there are great differences between Gerry’s objections in Convention on September 15 and those embodied in his letter to the Massachusetts legislature. See Records of September 15, and ⅭⅩⅩⅩⅢ above.
- ↑ Martin’s “Genuine Information” was delivered to the Maryland legislature November 29, 1787. It was first printed in Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette and Baltimore Advertiser, December 28, 1787—February 8, 1788. It was prefaced by the following note:—
“Mr. Hayes,
It was the wish of many respectable characters both in the House of Assembly, and others, that the information received from the Delegates to the late Convention, should be made public—I have taken some pains, to collect together, the substance of the information, which was given on that occasion to the House of Delegates by Mr. Martin; by your inserting in your paper, you will oblige.
A Customer.”
With the kind assistance of Mr. George W. McCreary, Assistant Secretary and Librarian of the Maryland Historical Society, the text of the present edition has been revised so as to correspond to the document as it was first printed.
It is quite evident that the speech delivered was revised before printing, and it is important, therefore, to compare this document with the speech as reported in the legislative proceedings (see above ⅭⅩⅬⅥb).
Because of the length of the document Arabic numerals are attached to the various paragraphs for convenience of reference. See also Appendix A, ⅭⅭⅩⅩⅢ, ⅭⅭⅭⅬⅦ, ⅭⅭⅭⅬⅩⅤ, ⅭⅭⅭⅬⅩⅩⅧ, ⅭⅭⅭⅩⅭⅡ, ⅭⅭⅭⅩⅭⅦ.
